Marlins facing early season adversity

Just when things looked as if they could not get worse for the 1-6 Marlins, they did. Yesterday, the Marlins announced that Henderson Alvarez would be placed on the 15-day disabled list after inflammation was discovered in his right elbow and shoulder. Here is what MLB.com's Joe Frisaro had to say about the injury:

Alvarez underwent an MRI exam on Monday, and it didn't reveal any structural damage. The club is hopeful the injury isn't serious enough for the ace to miss substantial time more than 15 days.

Of course this could have been a lot worse, as most Marlins fans were probably thinking Tommy John surgery when the news first broke that Alvarez had some discomfort. But with Jose Fernandez already out, this injury is still a blow to this ball club, even if Alvarez only ends up missing three starts. Alvarez's injury is yet another issue that has piled on the Marlins just a week into the season.

The Marlins are struggling in almost all facets of their game, but their troubles at the plate have stood out the most. Through seven games the Fish have scored just 20 runs, which is good for third worst in the National League. If you take away their lone victory when they scored 10 runs and recorded 13 hits, Miami has just 10 runs and 35 hits in their six losses. This has led to opponents outscoring the Marlins by a deficit of 38-20.

This is mainly due to the fact of hitters three through eight in the order, everyone expect Dee Gordon and Christian Yelich, have had difficulties at the plate. Most notably of which is Giancarlo Stanton, who is just 3 for 23 with eight strikeouts. G does not deserve the complete blame for the Marlins struggles, but this is a different lineup when he is hot at the plate.

On the other side of the diamond, while the Marlins have made some really nice highlight plays, their overall performance in the field has been sloppy. They have only committed two errors, but they have made a number of small mistakes in the field.

Miami's bullpen was considered it to be a strength of the ball club coming into the season, but it has been the complete opposite thus far. The Marlins bullpen has surrendered a major league high 18 runs in just over 28 innings.

So to wrap up, the Marlins have struggled to hit or score runs, they have been sloppy in the field, they have the league's worst bullpen statistically, and their two best starting pitchers are on the shelf. On the bright side Matt Latos's ERA dropped to 17.36 last night. Yeah, not the greatest opening week in Marlins franchise history.

Now with all of that being said, the Marlins currently have a nine-game road trip ahead of them against division opponents. They then return home for a nine-game home stand against division teams as well. With all of the issues currently surrounding them and the adversity they face, Marlins fans will learn a lot about this team in the next couple of weeks in how they deal with their slow start. The Fish could either fight through this stretch and come out with a record that is around or above .500 or they could dig themselves an even deeper hole.

So after one week, what is your biggest concern about this Marlins team?